Aiming to raise funds for both the controversial website and leader Julian Assange’s legal defense fund, WikiLeaks this month opened an online gift shop.

The shop, run by German company Spreadshirt AG, features T-shirts, duffle bags, umbrellas and buttons with the WikiLeaks logo, pictures of Assange and the organization’s tagline, “Courage is contagious.” A note on the page explains that “All proceedings go to WikiLeaks operations.”

The effort comes as Assange is set to receive $1.3 million for his autobiography. In an interview with the Sunday Times in December, Assange explained his financial situation: “I don’t want to write this book, but I have to. I have already spent £200,000 for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat.”

WikiLeaks is among the 241 Nobel Peace Prize nominees this year. The nominees come from 53 organizations and are greater in number than in any previous year.

Other nominees include the European Union, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, Russian rights group Memorial, Afghan rights advocate Sima Samar and the Internet. That’s right — the Internet as a whole has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

Talk about a can of worms..... hang on... nobel peace prize nominee? How did that happen? Maybe they are just trying to play nice? I mean from what i have heard wikileaks has done everything but try to create peace, judging from the news stories I've watched and the responses I have seen.